Bottle mixer spinner drive



April 11, 1950 J. KANTOR BOTTLE MIXER SPINNER DRIVE Filed NOV. 18, 1946 Patented Apr. 11, 1950 James Kantor, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Chicago, 111., a

corporation of Delaware Application November 18, 1946, Serial No. 710,679

3 Claims. (Cl. 259-54) The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for agitating containers of carbonated beverages, in order that the syrup and carbonated water within the container may be thoroughly mixed.

In one type of apparatus of this character, it is customary to support the container on a carriage which is rotated about an axis and during said rotation is caused to oscillate about a horizontal axis. During certain periods of this oscillation, the container itself is caused to rotate at'a fairly rapid rate about its vertical axis. One difficulty heretofore experienced in apparatus of thischaracter is the provision of an effective drive for causing the container to operate on its vertical axis at high speed.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a friction drive for effecting the high speed rotation of the container on its axis, which shall be effective in operation and which shall have the characteristics of long wearing qualities.

For the purpose of disclosing the invention, an embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a, longitudinal sectional view of so much of an agitating machine, *as is necessary for i lustrating the invention; and I;

-Fig. 2 is a sectional view" of the driving pinion for rotating the bottle.

In the embodiment of the invention, as illustrated, the bottle carrying support, of which there may be a multiplicity, is mounted on a rotating head I carried on a vertically disposed sleeve 2 rotating about a central post or standard 3. This sleeve 2 is preferably driven through the medium of a gear operated from a suitable motor, not shown. At the periphery of the head I a plurality of container supports is mounted, only one of which is illustrated in the drawings. This support consists of a base 5 having an arm 6, which is pivoted on a pin 1 supported in a fork 8 secured to the head I. The base is also provided with a laterally extending arm 9 in which is mounted a standard It, through which extends a clamping rod ll having at one extremity a clamp l2 adapted to engage the top of the bottle and be mounted in clamping position by a suitable spring, not shown, mounted within the standard ID. The lower end of this clamping rod II is provided with a roller I 3 adapted, under suitable conditions and when the support is in position, to maintain the bottle in an upright position to engage a cam, not shown, and raise the clamping rod ll against the action of the spring to release the bottle. The bottom of the bottle rests upon a platform l4 mounted on the end of a spindle l5 rotatably mounted in the base 5. The opposite end of the spindle l5 carries a friction drive pinion l6.

For driving this drive pinion, when the bottle support is in a position to maintain the bottle in its inverted position, I provide a drive wheel I! having a relatively smooth driving face I8.

This wheel is preferably formed of' cast iron or like material and this driving wheel is sup-' ported upon a sleeve 20 surrounding the sleeve 2.} The sleeve 20 is driven through the medium of a suitable gear 21' mounted at the upper end thereof. This gear 2| is driven from a pinion gear 22 mounted on the shaft of the motor 23.

As a result of this arrangement, I am enabled inclination from the vertical, so that the gravity maintains the periphery ofthe driving pinion in' contact with the driving-wheel l1.

During the rotative movement of the support for the container, the support is oscillated on the horizontally disposed pin or shaft I, so that the container is moved from an upright to an inverted position. During the inverted position, the driving pinion IE will be rotated at relatively high speed, due to the difference in the diameter of the drive wheel I! and the pinion wheel It, so that the container is rotated on its own vertical axis at a relatively high speed. The resulting action of the combined movements of the container effectually consists of a thorough mixing of the syrup and carbonated water contained in the sealed container.

One great difficulty experienced in effecting a drive to rotate the bottle on its vertical axis is the rapid deterioration of the driving pinion IS. The drive must be a friction drive, as it would be impossible to provide a gear drive under the circumstances, and obviously as the container is relatively stationary on its vertical axis, when the rotation thereof is initiated, there is a tendency for considerable wear on the driving pinion It, as the result of the overcoming of the inertia of the container in order to get the same started to spin rapidly. Furthermore, it is extremely desirable to get a quick friction drive between the driving wheel I! and the pinion H3, in order to obtain the maximum spinning effect during the period in which the bottle or container is in its inverted position. I have found that a driving pinion formed of a mixture of cork and plastic material, such for instance as the plastic material now commercially known as neoprene which is polymerized chloroprene, will give the most desirable results and by maintaining the engaging surface of the driving wheel and the driven pinion lubricated, I am enabled to obtain the maximum results in efiecting the rapid rotation of the container on its vertical axis, with a minimum wear on the surface of the driven pinion It.

From actual experience, I have found that providing a thin film of oil between the driving surface of the driving wheel I! and the pinion IS, with the pinion [6 being formed of the corkneoprene composition, after eight months of operation under normal operative conditions, the driving pinion l6 showed only /1000 of an inch wear.

I claim as my invention:

1. A beverage mixer member, a container support journaled upon said member to oscillate in a plane transverse to the path of travel of said member from an upright to an inverted position, means for supporting a container on said support to rotate on its longitudinal axis, a driven Wheel drivingly connected with said rotating supporting means comprising a wheel having a friction periphery and formed of a solid mass of polymerized chloroprene having ground cork disbursed throughout the mass and a driving member for said wheel having a friction drive periphery engaged by the friction periphery of said wheel when the container support is in its inverted position and maintained in said engagement by the weight of the support and the container.

2. A beverage mixer including a traveling member, a container support journaled upon said member to oscillate in a plane transverse to its path of travel, means for supporting a container on said support to rotate on its longitudinal axis, means for rotating said rotating supporting means comprising a driven wheel having a fricincluding a traveling tion periphery and comprising a solid mass of polymerized chloroprene having ground cork disbursed throughout the mass drivingly connected with said rotating supporting means, and, a metal driving wheel disposed beneath the axis of r0- tation of the rotary member and having a friction driving periphery, the periphery of said driving wheel engaging the periphery of said driven wheel when the oscillating container support is oscillated to an inverted position and maintained in friction driving relation therewith by the weight of the support and the container.

3. A beverage mixer including a rotarymemher, a container support journaled on said memher to oscillate in a plane transverse to its path of travel, means for supporting a container on a said support to rotate on its longitudinal axis, means for rotating said rotating supporting means comprising a driven wheel having a friction periphery and comprising a solid mass of polymerized chloroprene having ground cork disbursed throughout the mass and having a friction driven periphery and drivingly connected with said rotating supporting member, and a metal drive wheel disposed beneath the rotary member having its axis of rotation co-incident with the axis of rotation of the rotary member and having a friction driving periphery, the periphery of said driving wheel engaging the periphery of said driven wheel when said container support is oscillated to an inverted position and maintained in a friction driving relation therewith by the weight of the support and the container and a lubricating film maintained between the engaging surfaces of said drive wheel.

JAMES KAN TOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 856,563 Apple June 11, 1907 1,764,409 Kent et al June 17, 1930 2,196,407 Atkinson i Apr, 9, 1940 2,290,562 Kantor July -21, 1942 

